Discussions immediately broke out among the onlookers outside of East Heaven Gate.

"This guy is nuts…."

"If he doesn't have Fang Clan blood, then he's dead for sure! But, if he does possess a Fang Clan bloodline, then why would he wait in line and even pay a spirit stone tax?"

"Maybe he has some other way to get through the Fang Clan's gate. But wait, that's not possible! No matter what you do, even if you're from the Fang clan itself, you can't hide your bloodline. Anyone who isn't from the Fang Clan will definitely be killed by that gate."

The over one hundred Fang Outer Clan members standing guard outside the gate looked on with cold smiles, especially the cultivator with the black birthmark, whose eyes especially shone with scorn.

"You went looking to die, so you can't blame anyone else," he sneered. "Fellow Daoist Feng, it's not that I didn't give you face, sir. I already gave him permission to enter East Heaven Gate, and yet, he's choosing to kill himself."

Feng Xun stamped his foot, and then an anxious expression appeared on his face. However, there was nothing he could do.

It was in this moment that Meng Hao began to step into the Fang Clan's gate. Only half of his foot had actually entered the gate when it began to rumble.

"It's going to crush him to death!" said the cultivator with the black birthmark, a coldly sinister smile plastered across his face. A moment later, that smile suddenly froze, then turned into an expression of disbelief. Everyone else who was discussing the matter also stopped, and their eyes went wide.

The more than one hundred Outer Clan disciples who were guarding East Heaven Gate stared with open mouths.

Feng Xun's eyes flickered with shock, and his brain filled with roaring as he gasped in astonishment.

Everyone could clearly see that as Meng Hao stood there, the gate trembled and… began to shine with light.

It took only a moment for a 300-meter beam of light to rise up, completely filling the pupils of all onlookers with glittering reflected light.

"Impossible!" said the cultivator with the black birthmark, his voice hoarse. He suddenly began to quiver.

The more than one hundred cultivators guarding East Heaven Gate gasped, and their minds reeled.

The crowds immediately went into an uproar.

"A 300-meter Gatebeam! Heavens! He's a member of the Fang Clan, and not an ordinary one at that! The fact that he has a 300-meter Gatebeam shows that his bloodline exceeds that of an ordinary clan member!"

"If he's a member of the Fang Clan, then why did he try to go through East Heaven Gate?"

It was then that the crowds fell silent.

As soon as Meng Hao's foot touched onto the ground, and half of his body entered the gate, the beam of light shot up… from 300 meters to 3,000 meters, accompanied by deafening rumbling sounds.

The 3,000-meter Gatebeam was spectacular to behold, and all of the cultivators outside of East Heaven Gate felt as if they couldn't breathe. They stared in shock and disbelief, their minds reeling.

"A 3,000-meter Gatebeam…. Heavens! He's a Chosen of the Fang Clan!!"

"Who is he? A cultivator with 3,000-meter Bloodline Gatebeam can't be a nobody! He must have a high status in the Fang Clan!"

The cultivator with the black birthmark staggered backward a few steps, his face deathly pale, and a feeling of intense regret rose up in his heart. He even felt resentful.

"Y-y-you… you're actually a member of the Fang Clan!" he thought, panting continuously. "With a bloodline like that, why would you go through East Heaven Gate!? Why did you have to make trouble for me…? Well, even if you do have a 3,000-meter Bloodline Gatebeam, I was just enforcing the law as I should have, so my actions were justifiable!" Even still, his heart was filled with intense apprehension.

Feng Xun stood there gaping at Meng Hao, unable to even speak.

If that were all there were to the matter, it wouldn't be a big deal. But then, Meng Hao finished stepping into the gate, which caused the rumbling sounds to increase, and the beam of light to shoot higher into the air.

3,000 meters. 4,500 meters. 6,000 meters. 7,500 meters….

In the space of only a few breaths of time, the beam of light reached a height of 9,000 meters!

A plopping sound could be heard as the cultivator with the black birthmark suddenly seemed to lose all of his cultivation base and strength. He sat down onto the ground, his face as pale as a corpse's, without the slightest sign of color.

"9… 9,000 meters!!" he thought. "Finished. I'm finished! If… if it were only 3,000 meters, I could still say I was just enforcing the law, but he… he has a 9,000-meter Bloodline Gatebeam. A clan member like that, I… I…."

He wasn't the only one who was acting like that. The Fang Outer Clan members who had surrounded him earlier and mocked him coldly were now looking on with fallen faces. Their scalps were numb, and they were terrified.

The rest of the people standing outside of the gate were watching with wide eyes and slack jaws, their minds trembling.

"9… 9,000 meters…. What bloodline is that? That's second only to the number one Chosen in the Fang Clan, Prince Wei. When Prince Wei entered the door, his Gatebeam reached 24,000 meters!!"

"Who is this guy…?"

It wasn't just the people outside the gate who were shocked. In the Fang Clan's ancestral mansion in Planet East Victory, there was a huge bell. Moments ago, that bell had begun to toll. The sound of it rang out through all of the clan's various branches. No outsider could hear it; it rang out only in the minds of the members of the Fang Clan.

In the main hall of the ancestral mansion, an old man with a full head of white hair sat cross-legged in meditation. His expression was solemn, and when he opened his eyes, his gaze was profound, and his eyes flickered like lightning. Sitting in front of him were eight other people, all of whom were engaged in a discussion.

When the bell tolled, the faces of all of the men in the main hall flickered, and they looked up.

"Someone with a strong bloodline just entered the Fang Gate and has invoked the toll of the bell!!"

"The Dao Bell only tolls when a clan member enters the gate for the first time, and a Bloodline Gatebeam of 3,000 meters or higher appears!"

"What member of the junior generation has gone to test out their bloodline?"

Everyone was shocked, and the old man sitting up front looked up, suspicion flickering in his eyes.

When members of the Fang Clan came of age, they would enter the Fang Gate to test their bloodline. The Dao Bell would only ring the first time they did so.

As of this moment, there were many locations within the Fang Clan in which expressions of surprise could be heard. Meng Hao's 19th Uncle was currently sitting cross-legged next to a lake, clutching a flagon of alcohol, his face glum and anguished. When the bell tolled, he almost didn't seem to hear it, and just kept drinking. Off to the side, a young man with a bitter expression on his face hung upside down in midair.

In another location was a stretch of pitch black land from which a volcano rose up. Sitting cross-legged deep inside the volcano was a middle-aged man, whose eyes suddenly snapped open and began to shine with brilliant light.

In another area, there was a blood-red desert, where a young man could be seen sitting. He suddenly raised his head and looked up into the sky.

In a variety of locations, clan members began to take notice of the tolling of the bell. When it tolled a second time, even more people were visibly moved. When it tolled a third time, even more people were shocked.

However, after the third tolling of the bell… it didn't stop!

Meng Hao stood there in the Fang Clan's gate, unmoving, surrounded by a gentle aura that swirled around his body, stimulating his bloodline. His face was calm; since he had chosen this route, then he would continue to shock Heaven and Earth.

He took a deep breath and fully released the power of his bloodline, allowing the gentle power of the gate to thoroughly assess its strength.

In the blink of an eye, the Gatebeam exploded up. It broke through from 9,000 meters to 12,000, causing the bell to toll a fourth time!

That fourth bell toll could be heard by all the Fang Clan members over the entirety of Planet East Victory, and caused even more people to feel astonishment. Next, however, the Fang Gate's Gatebeam shot higher, reaching 15,000 meters. A fifth bell toll echoed out, shaking the entire Fang Clan.

"Five bell tolls! Who is testing out their bloodline? It's… so strong!"

"In the younger generation of the Fang Clan, there are less than fifty people who can achieve a 15,000-meter Gatebeam! When it comes to a 18,000-meter beam, there are less than ten, and as for a 21,000-meter beam... there are only three! And then there's… Prince Wei, with his 24,000-meter beam!!"

The Fang Clan was in an uproar. Meng Hao stood bathed in light in the Fang Clan's gate, the Gatebeam so bright that no one could see him inside of it. Meng Hao took another breath, and his eyes glittered as the Gatebeam… shot up once again!!

It went from 15,000 meters up to 18,000 meters, the scintillating light seemingly limitless. All of the people outside of East Heaven Gate were struck speechless.

When the sixth bell tolled, the entire Fang Clan was sent into a stir.

Multiple figures shot up from various locations in the clan and headed toward East Heaven Gate. Even the Elders in the main hall of the Ancestral Mansion flew outside and then began to teleport toward the gate.

Tens of thousands of people all flew out at the same time, including countless powerful experts. In the blink of an eye, numerous people emerged from East Heaven Gate and looked over toward the Fang Clan's gate.

The other cultivators outside of East Heaven Gate began to edge backward, their bodies trembling, their expressions that of excitement. They looked at the people walking out of East Heaven Gate and realized that all of them were cultivators from the Fang Clan, powerful experts.

These people peered at the Fang Clan's gate, but were unable to clearly see who was inside.

"I wonder which branch's child has achieved such a level!!"

"Hahaha! The Immortals are blessing the Fang Clan. Another Chosen has appeared!"

"Who is it? Is it Tao'er? Or Young Hai? Perhaps Hong'er?"

The Fang Clan members who had just arrived were all waiting in anticipation. It was at this point that a group of eight figures appeared, led by the white-haired old man who had been sitting in the lead position in the main hall of the ancestral mansion.

As soon as he appeared, the other Fang Clan members looked over in shock, and then clasped hands.

"Greetings, Grand Elder!"

This old man was none other than the person who had been left to preside over the Fang Clan's affairs after the Patriarchs had gone into secluded meditation. He was… the Grand Elder, Fang Tongtian!1

Just as his name suggested, Fang Tongtian had an exceedingly high cultivation base that was virtually beyond comprehension. As he walked out of East Heaven Gate, he looked over at the Fang Clan's gate, but even he could not see who was inside. All he could see was a vague shadow.

Fang Tongtian laughed loudly and said, "An 18,000-meter Gatebeam is an incredibly important matter for the Fang Clan. Very well, very well… a clan member with a bloodline like this means that the Fang Clan will definitely have a new Chosen!"

At the same time, more and more Fang Clan members were emerging from East Heaven Gate.

Meanwhile, the Outer Clan cultivators who had been guarding the gate were so scared that their limbs had become like jelly. They seemed on the verge of dropping dead from fright. As for the cultivator with the black birthmark, he was laying on the ground shivering uncontrollably.

Feng Xun was also shaking. He looked around at the powerful figures around him, and then back at the Fang Clan's gate, his face covered with a look of disbelief.

It was at this point that more rumbling sounds could be heard as the light exploded up once again. It went from 18,000 meters to 21,000 meters, completely shocking the Fang Clan and everyone else outside the gate.

Grand Elder Fang Tongtian's eyes were shining with unprecedented brightness.

Fang Tongtian's name in Chinese is 方通天 fāng tōng tiān. Tongtian means 'all-powerful' or 'exceedingly high'